


Making an Effort

by QuoteMyFoot



Series: Word Prompts for Three Houses [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: And Byleth sees right through her, Byleth Actually Teaches, Female My Unit | Byleth, Friendship, Gen, Hidden Talents, Hilda knows more than she lets on, Mentorship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 13:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21339112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuoteMyFoot/pseuds/QuoteMyFoot
Summary: It took Hilda a while to come to grips with their new professor's moods... unfortunately for Hilda, it turned out that the professor was observing her just as keenly in return.
Relationships: Golden Deer Students & Hilda Valentine Goneril, Hilda Valentine Goneril & My Unit | Byleth
Series: Word Prompts for Three Houses [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1535843
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46





	Making an Effort

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the November daily prompts on r/FanFiction. **November 5 (Antonymous Tuesday): Peruse – 1) to study carefully, 2) to glance over quickly.**

_It takes so much hard work to be me, _Hilda thought glumly. She’d been watching the professor with careful eyes, wondering if she’d pushed it too far with skipping training yet or if she needed to put in some real effort for a while to get back into her good graces. Professor Byleth was great and all, but did she have to be so stoic all the time? It made her so tough to read. Hilda was _constantly _annoying her for the first few months because it was just impossible to see where the lines were until Professor Byleth was actually yelling at her!

Well… _talking sternly. _Actual yelling would be too emotive for the professor.

But! All that was in the past now! More or less. Hilda had finally managed to catalogue all those minute facial movements and was now conversant in Professorish – that tiny movement of the mouth which was what she passed off as a smile, the mild furrow of the brows when she was caught off guard, the crinkled eyes when she was really, _truly _happy, and of course the total, utter lack of any kind of movement in the fact whatsoever when she was angry!

“Hilda.”

Like… now. _Oh no._

With most people she would put on her brightest, most charming smile to disarm them—even if they were really pissed, her angelic expression would soften their heart!

Professor Byleth wouldn’t know an angelic expression if it slapped her in the face.

“Professor?” Hilda asked. Had she done anything particularly bad recently? She’d been slacking off on training, but from her observations, if she’d put in some real effort today, the professor would’ve laid off for another few weeks…

Byleth folded her arms. It wasn’t something that she did naturally—she’d copied it from Jeralt one time when she saw him giving the other knights a dressing down. Hilda thought she felt it made her look more authoritative. A teeny bit of love for papa was cute on anyone, even the most stoic Professor in the world! “So, I notice you’ve been observing your classmates very closely of late.”

Hilda laughed nervously. It was true, she’d studied everyone to learn their moods and tics, even if most of them were much easier to read than Byleth. She wasn’t sure she liked where this was going, though… “Yeees?”

“And what have you learned?”

She was still giving nothing away with her body language or anything! It just wasn’t fair. “Well… lots of things! But I’m sure you don’t want to hear all that small stuff so… what did you have in mind?”

The charming smile lit up her face automatically. Crap. Hopefully the professor wouldn’t start thinking she was hiding something.

“And what are you hiding?” Professor Byleth asked.

Double crap. “Why, nothing, Professor! How could I hide anything from my wonderful housemates?”

Professor Byleth furrowed her eyebrows slightly. Yeah, okay, Hilda had overplayed that one a little bit.

She sighed. “Professor, what do you _mean?”_

“I’ve noticed that you always seem to know the right thing to say or do for people, regardless of their mood.” Byleth’s eyes crinkled. “Even with me.”

Uh oh. Busted.

“It’s an incredibly useful skill to know your allies so well,” Professor Byleth continued. Hilda should not feel this sense of dread over a nice bit of praise. “And so, I was thinking—” _Yep. Here comes the troublesome bit. _“—that we should put this observational talent to use in helping your housemates improve. In more practical ways than simply their mood. Like their weapons skills, perhaps?”

Hilda winced. “Ahh… I don’t know if that’s a good—”

“—Since you said you would never hide anything from them.”

_Wow, using my own excuse against me? Rude, Professor. _“Well… you know me!” She smiled, projecting brightness and sincerity. “I’m just Hilda!”

“The girl who knows at least three times as much as she lets on at any given time.” Byleth nodded. “Yes. Continue.”

Ugh. Projecting sincerity never worked with the professor. _So _unfair. “Well it’s not like I know how to use all the same weapons they do! You’re sooo much more helpful when it comes to technique, Professor!”

“I doubt that’s completely true.”

Goddess, Hilda just _had _to ignore that one and barrel onwards. “And what if… I give someone bad advice and they get hurt because of it?”

“Oh, I’m absolutely sure you will,” Professor Byleth agreed.

Hilda stopped with her mouth hanging open. _Uh… what? Weren’t you supposed to be arguing **against** me?_

“That’s why it’s a skill we should build on now, when I’m here to step in,” Byleth continued. “Instead of being forced to put an underdeveloped skill into practise after you graduate, when mistaken advice could cost someone their life.”

“Wh…” Hilda took a step back, feeling panic simmering just beneath the surface, tightening around her ribs and making it hard to breathe. “Professor? I—I don’t think this is a good—”

“I know you by now, Hilda,” Byleth said, almost… warmly? “Your observations are good. You’re always ready with a distraction or a kind word when you sense your housemates are in a bad mood. You’d progress to commenting on technique here and there on your own, just because you wouldn’t be able to leave it alone if you saw an error.” She smiled—_actually smiled. _“So let’s teach you to do it well.”

There was an unusual amount of urgency in the professor’s body language: leaning forward, focused expression. Hilda found herself looking at her feet with a lump in her throat, feeling like her intensity was accusing her of something. _Why did I tell her I was so scared of disappointing everyone?_

The professor had that way about her, Hilda supposed. She revealed so little, it just made you wonder what was beneath the surface.

She bit her lip, but she had little choice but to agree. It sounded like a lot of work, although at least exercising her brain wouldn’t work up a sweat. And the professor had already planted the idea in her head: what if she said something wrong, or what if she could have said something _right, _but because of her, they were put in danger instead. Already, the other day, she’d caught Ignatz practising with a sword, and the words, _‘your moves are too timid’_ had been right on the tip of her tongue.

“How come you’re always right, Professor?” Hilda asked. “It’s so annoying.”

“I just pick my moments well,” Byleth demurred. “But I can’t not recognise a kindred spirit when I see one.”

Hilda blinked.

“How do you think I did so well as a mercenary? Observation is an undervalued skill. Seeing one of my students with a natural talent for it, of course I have to help you hone it.”

“Wait…” She frowned, studying the professor’s slightly widened eyes. She’d pulled that innocent look _way _too many times not to recognise Byleth’s toned down version of it. “How long have you been waiting to spring this ‘observation training’ on me, exactly?”

Byleth’s eyes crinkled with a hidden smile, even though she answered in a near monotone, “Long enough that we shouldn’t delay any further. First stop—the training hall.”

Hilda sighed. “I was afraid you would say something like that…”

_But I suppose for you and the others, Professor, I’ll try my best._

**Author's Note:**

> Hilda is just a blast to write, and I hope I did her justice here. Any and all comments welcome!


End file.
